Kenny Phillips says he's 'penciled in' as New York Giants starting safety over Deon Grant

It's been a "long, long, long, long" road to recovery for Kenny Phillips. But there's no longer much doubt that he's back.

A few minutes after Tom Coughlin told the media Wednesday that "the easing part, I think, is over" for the former first-round pick, Phillips was inserted back into the Giants' starting lineup, nearly a year after he first injured his left knee. He said he's "penciled in" to start at safety alongside Antrel Rolle in the season opener against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

And while it may not be a surprise that he took his old job back from veteran safety Deon Grant, not many people believed it would happen this soon.

"It was my goal," Phillips said after his first practice with the first team. "It was my goal when I first came in here. I knew it was going to take some time. They wanted to see where I was at and make sure I didn't have a setback. I think it worked out for the best."

Not for everyone. Grant, a 10-year veteran who played the last three seasons with the Seahawks and signed with the Giants in the spring, was admittedly surprised by the move and while he promised to support Phillips, he also said "I'm not going to sit up here like it's just all peaches and cream." When Grant signed, he knew he was just holding a spot for Phillips, who was recovering from microfracture surgery to repair damage from a degenerative condition in his knee.

Clearly, Grant didn't expect Phillips' return to the starting lineup to happen in Week 1.

"To be honest with you, that whole situation was something I didn't think was going to happen this early," Grant said. "So was I surprised? Definitely.

"I know in my mind I'm not a backup safety. That might be the position I'm going to have to play, but I'm not a backup safety. But I'm going to support Kenny because Kenny's like a little brother to me."

Still, Grant wasn't happy that his streak of 144 consecutive NFL starts will come to an end on Sunday. Even though he knew the situation when he signed with the Giants, he also felt he didn't do anything to lose his job, making it a difficult decision to take.

"My goal was to come into the league and to play and to start until it gets to the point where I can't start anymore," Grant said. "I've been doing that up to this point. If it doesn't happen, yeah, it's going to be hard to swallow, especially when I know I'm not a backup."

But he is a backup now for the Giants, reduced to roles in the nickel or dime defenses. Phillips wasn't sure of how much he'll play on Sunday and he hasn't taken more than 25 snaps in any of the Giants' four preseason games. But he said he feels capable of handling a full-time job and said there are no limitations on or worries about his knee.

"I had three preseason games to get ready for that," he said. "I was running into people, tackling, falling on the ground. So I'm not worried about that at all."

Phillips has looked increasingly good this summer, despite the dire nature of his injury. He has patella femoral arthritis in his knee, which some doctors warned at the time had the potential to be a career-ending condition. That was a prognosis that Phillips never believed.

"It's been a long, long, long, long offseason for me," he said. "I missed it. I really did."

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(nydailynews.com)